I’ve had my nose stuck in a book on muggy afternoons when it’s sweltering outside, time pouring slow as molasses. River snuffles softly, grateful of ceiling fans and a waft of AC, which thank goodness, still works this year. The book’s a feast of Southern summer: bikes, kudzu, sweating glass soda bottles, old houses, fireflies and truths found on winding country roads.

Saturday, I put the book down for a trip toward Pendleton, which is a good hour and a half from Saluda: involving a winding drive down the Greenville watershed road. Usually it’s peaceful, lowers blood pressure a bit and I’m reminded of how refreshing it is to be surrounded by a canopy of green, a rippling sliver of stream, the lake peeking through verdant trees and one’s thoughts.

Instead, it was a traffic jam on that narrow road: hordes of bicycles coming up, hordes of bicycles going down. Now I’m open-minded (most of the time)–bikes are fun, good exercise, better for the planet and use no fossil fuel. However, my complaint isn’t with the bikes, but some of the riders on them. Bikes and cars don’t mix with bad drivers with attitude on either side.

Riders roll along double, triple, or worse, weave, impervious to what’s behind them or trying to get around. You cannot safely pass, so are forced to creep along behind forever, unless you’re a jerk and roar by, nearly killing everyone, including yourself.

You can tell the thoughtful riders, they cling steady to the far side of the lane, paying attention. Others yell back and forth at the top of their lungs (how they have the steam to do that, I’m not sure) and ride in huge packs, which make it impossible to pass.

Twenty years ago, you saw kids and regular folks riding these roads, but no serious bikers with $5000+ European bikes and expensive outfits to match. Now, you see hordes and hordes, swarm upon swarm. Everybody and his brother are doing it, and they mean business.

I’m appreciative of those who ride by, nod and say good morning, and don’t yell to high heaven about their last hemorrhoid surgery. Geez. I’m appreciative of the ones I know who are ‘good folks,’ live in these parts and are part of our community, who follow safety rules, stop downtown to patronize businesses, rather than just bathrooms. I think maybe it’s time to put a DMV fee on those expensive  ‘professional’ level bikes to be applied for bicycle lanes. These thoughts are just one ole girl’s opinion, looking at both sides — or both lanes to the issue. Believe me, I have much more to say about bad car and motorcycle drivers. Coming to a column near you soon!